What is Severe Morning Sickness (Hyperemesis Gravidarum)?
About 80 percent of pregnant women experience some nausea during the first trimester of pregnancy. Between three to five women in 1,000 develop such severe nausea and vomiting that weight loss and dehydration can jeopardize their health and the health of the baby. Each year, about 20,000 women are hospitalized for this condition, known as hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness).
Hyperemesis Program
The Hyperemesis Program at the Cherese Mari Laulhere BirthCare Center at Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach offers an effective treatment for severe morning sickness. Learn more.
Medication for Hyperemesis Gravidarum
From years of research, Dr. Michael Nageotte, perinatologist and medical director of the MemorialCare Center for Women, and pharmacist Gerald Briggs, PharmD designed an effective treatment for sever morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum). The pharmacologic therapy consists of infusions of the drugs Droperidol and Diphenhydramine.
According to published data from the MemorialCare Center for Women, the Droperidol combination is significantly more effective than any one of a number of regimens that have been tried in the past. Most women feel better within hours of receiving the therapy, stop vomiting after one day and are back home from the hospital after the two days.